Ominous clues were posted daily on Instagram, flyers somehow made it to every spot on campus and Ranger Bear ran rampant from April 4 to April 15 as part of a campus-wide scavenger hunt, organized by the Residence Hall Association (RHA).
RHA first posted about the scavenger hunt on their Instagram, announcing that each day there would be a series of hints on Instagram and Drew Today to find the day’s prizes scattered throughout campus.
RHA Vice President Robert Angarone (‘24), who ran the event alongside Chief Business Officer Muthoni Githinji (‘25), said his goal was to promote Drew spirit.
“RHA wanted to bring together all the clubs and build bonds between everyone, and we really wanted to show off and bring to prominence all the clubs that were a part of [the scavenger hunt],” said Angarone.
Despite over 60 clubs and organizations on campus being invited to participate in the hunt, only 14 elected to do so. These included the African Student Association, ARIEL, Black Student Union, Bookstore, College Republicans, Connect with Kids (CWK), Feminist Intersection, International Ambassadors of INTO, International Student Association, Psychology Club, Rangerettes, RHA and Volunteer Without Borders.
Given that many clubs have faced lower engagement in the semesters following the pandemic, several club leaders were eager to participate. Among these were CWK and the Psychology Club.
CWK President Isla Ubiles (‘24) said that she wanted to increase enrollment and acquire more volunteers to help with their upcoming event, Take Your Kid to Work Day on April 29.
“The club, because it’s all about working with kids [and] doing hands on activities, really struggled to maintain numbers during COVID, so the new board and I really wanted to revamp the activities we had planned and get more people involved,” Ubiles said. “We decided that giving away prizes to people to incentivise them to come and help out[…]was a good idea.”
Psychology Club Co-Officer Carly Orent (‘23) was also excited to partake, hiding coloring books under seats in psychology classrooms.
“We participated because we’re a revived club and wanted to get the word out [that we’re] coming back,” Orent said.
In addition to the scavenger hunt, students across campus were encouraged to take selfies with Ranger Bear to enter for additional chances to win prizes. If students took a picture with the mascot walking around campus, they were encouraged to post their shots on Instagram and tag RHA.
Angarone said the purpose of these appearances was to “just bring forward some more campus spirit and make people laugh.” Dozens of drewids took pictures with Ranger Bear over the course of the week and a half, hoping to win a speaker.
Brittany Boetticher (‘23), who participated in this selfie-taking, did not care about winning any prizes, however. Aside from having an “unhealthy obsession” with the mascot, she said “I liked seeing Ranger Bear on campus boosting school morale.”
Those interested in learning more about RHA or any of the organizations involved can visit The Path.
